2020 Mind & Life Conversation

June 19, 2020, 10:30pm EDT

The Mind & Life Institute was honored to host this special livestream event with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The program explored insights for individual and collective healing, integrating contemplation, science, and action, helping us to consider how crisis can be an opportunity to shift human consciousness and embrace our shared humanity.

For viewers in the United States, the livestream occurred on the holiday Juneteenth, the oldest nationally-celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery. It is our intention that the program embraced the spirit of the holiday through its emphasis on reflection, acknowledgement, and hope for the future.

Read a summary on our blog »

You can watch the entire recording above or select particular segments of interest below to watch on our Youtube page.

Interested in the Dalai Lama’s view of COVID? Listen at 10:46 to hear Carolyn Jacobs start the conversation on our collective need to reduce anxiety around the things we cannot control.
Starting at 16:53, hear the Dalai Lama discuss the challenging “-isms” that divide us, including racism in the United States, and the importance of promoting the oneness of humanity.
From 27:11, listen to the Dalai Lama advocate for the United States to embody its name and serve as an example of unity for the world.
Based on quantum science and Buddhist teachings, the Dalai Lama explains at 32:08 how emotions like anger and fear that drive division and separation are unfounded. We should be developing compassion.
Beginning at 34:26, listen to Richie Davidson describe the pandemic’s effect on our mental health and disproportionate impact on Black Americans.
Want to learn about the origin of compassion-focused research? From 49:55, listen to Richie Davidson recount how the Dalai Lama influenced a group of western scientists to study the positive impact of cultivating this feeling – including how practicing compassion can reduce implicit bias.
What is hygiene of emotion? Starting at 53:18, listen to the Dalai Lama explain how modern education needs to incorporate the study of our inner world and emotions.
Listen to the Dalai Lama and Carolyn Jacobs at 1:15:48, where they discuss the need for a compassionate society based on dialogue and mutual respect.
From 1:31:06, learn about the basis of destructive emotions and the practices that help the Dalai Lama cultivate compassion.

Participants

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Honorary Board Chair

The Dalai Lama is a man of peace. He has consistently advocated policies of non-violence, even in the face of extreme aggression. He also became the first Nobel Laureate to … MORE

Richard J. Davidson, PhD

William James and Vilas Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry and Founder & Director of the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Founder and Chief Visionary for Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc.

Richard Davidson received his PhD from Harvard University in Psychology and has been at Wisconsin since 1984. He has published more than 573 articles, numerous chapters and reviews, and edited … MORE

Carolyn Jacobs, MSW, PhD

Smith College School for Social Work

Board Member

Carolyn Jacobs, MSW, PhD, is Dean Emerita and Elizabeth Marting Treuhaft Professor Emerita of the Smith College School for Social Work. Dr. Jacobs was a member of the School’s faculty … MORE

Thupten Jinpa, PhD

Compassion Institute

Board Chair

Thupten Jinpa, Ph.d., received his early education and training as a monk and obtained the Geshe Lharam degree from the Shartse College of Ganden Monastic University, South India. In addition, Jinpa … MORE

Susan Bauer-Wu

President, Mind & Life Institute

Susan is the President of the Mind & Life Institute, a role she assumed in December 2015. She has held leadership, academic, and clinical roles that have largely focused on … MORE

Sona Dimidjian, PhD

Renée Crown Wellness Institute

Board Member

Sona Dimidjian, PhD is Director of the Renée Crown Wellness Institute and Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her current research projects … MORE

Mind & Life Connections

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2020 Mind & Life Conversation with the Dalai Lama: Resilience, Compassion, and Science for Healing Today

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